Prescription for success, service

Of the more than 9,000 babies that Dr. Patricia Hatton estimates she's delivered in her career, two of them were her youngest sister's.

Lori Gilbert

Of the more than 9,000 babies that Dr. Patricia Hatton estimates she's delivered in her career, two of them were her youngest sister's.

"Oh, yeah, she was there for both of them," Joselyn Davis said. "The second one, she tried to leave me, and I was having a fit. I was a little late, so she induced me so I could have him before she left. She had to go to some conference in L.A."

That the Stockton obstetrician/gynecologist had two important places to be at the same time will come as no surprise to those who know her.

Commitment is the essence of Hatton, equally dedicated to God, her family, her friends, her patients and her community.

St. Mary's High School will honor Hatton at a dinner Thursday, held in conjunction with its second Empowering Young Women program.

"What's special about Dr. Hatton is she loves science and math classes," said Tori Verber-Salazar, one of the event organizers. "She took it to the next level in becoming a doctor. That's a positive role model for all of us."

Beyond her professional accomplishments, though, her devotion to the community made her an ideal honoree.

"She's that quiet, dignified, honorable woman, who goes about and does service to her faith, service to her community, service to her family and asks for nothing in return," Verber-Salazar said. "That's a very empowered woman that will always be a great role model for women. ... It's very powerful for young men or women to see a woman carry herself with dignity, honor and grace."

Hatton devotes herself to causes that are "going to help make a difference in empowering young students in taking control of their lives and feeling confident they can accomplish whatever their goals are."

It's why she paid to open The Rock, the downtown building where students in grades four to 12 receive free tutoring in math and science on Saturdays.

"We found the high dropout rate in San Joaquin County in general was because of math and science, and trying to pass algebra," Hatton said. "We decided this would be a good time to give back to students."

After all, not all children are the math and science whizzes Hatton was as a child growing up in Wallace, Texas, near Houston.

Nor are they all as driven to succeed.

"I cried when I didn't get an A," Hatton admitted. "It started in elementary school. It was something within. I had to achieve. I always had to have the best grades."

That determination made her valedictorian of her high school graduating class in 1968, and got her to college.

"There was no real plan how I was going to get to college, but I knew I was going to go," said Hatton, the second of six children. "I applied and ended up going to the college that gave me the most money to pay for my education."

That was Houston Tillotson College in Austin, where she majored in chemistry, minored in math, and graduated magna cum laude. From there she went to University of Texas Medical School in Galveston.

It was ground-breaking that in 1972, a black woman was heading to the oldest medical school in the state of Texas.

The medical clinic in her town had segregated bathrooms, and when she entered the white ladies' room with her high school basketball teammates, she was scolded by her coach.

"I remembered that day, but it didn't discourage me."

Telling the story, a knowing smile crosses her face. She was the only person in that clinic's bathroom that day who would become a doctor.

She didn't practice medicine in Texas, though. Anxious to live in another part of the country after medical school, she came to California, where she had an aunt living in San Francisco, and entered the residency program at San Joaquin General Hospital.

When she completed it in 1980, Hatton chose to stay in Stockton. After six months in a group practice, she ventured out on her own.

"I walked over here and this building was just a shell with rocks on the floor," Hatton said as she sat in the lobby of the blue building at the corner Harding Way and California Street. "I talked to the developer and I said, 'I want this building.' I had no idea how I was going to pay for it."

Another tenant asked to take over half of the building.

More than 30 years later, the building still suits her.

One hallway is lined with bulletin boards covered with photographs of children she brought into the world. Most are baby pictures, but there are elementary school photos, graduation pictures, Eagle Scouts and soldiers. Some mothers did more than send photos. They sent their grown daughters to their beloved doctor, who delivered a second generation of babies.

Although Hatton is now part of Gill Obstetrics, she continues to have an independent streak.

She opened the After Hours Clinic three years ago, working on Saturdays to see patients without insurance or even, in some cases, money.

"It's always been on her heart to help," said her sister, Davis, who has done clerical work in Hatton's office since arriving in Stockton as a high school graduate looking for her own change of scenery. "There are so many patients who need care, and a lot of offices don't take Medi-Cal or cash patients. Those people need to be seen. The whole time I've been with her, 20 years, she's never turned anyone away."

Hatton gave up the 24/7 demands of obstetrics when her only child, J.P., started high school in 2003. She wanted to enjoy his football games and his other activities. It also gave her more time to spend with her husband of 25 years, John Nisby, who passed away in 2011 at 74 from complications from Alzheimer's.

She remains devoted to her work, which is a labor of love; her patients, she said, are like family.

"I enjoy helping people, making a difference in their lives, improving the quality of their lives in all different aspects: physical, mental and spiritual, any way I can."

Being honored by St. Mary's is "humbling" she said, but it gives her an opportunity pass along words of wisdom to young people.

"Set a goal and decide what ingredients it's going to take to make it happen," Hatton said. "Don't let the negatives dilute it. You have to have hard work, knowledge, attitude and faith. With faith in God, you're over the top."